Five Moments AI Celebrates

“Everything goes and everything comes back.” So said Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philospher, in the late 19th century, and so says Allen Iverson, future NBA Hall of Famer and current Reebok endorser, in the latter days of 2012.

While Nietzsche was talking about life and death, Iverson is talking about sneakers. He is talking about, on this unseasonably balmy December day in Atlanta, GA, the upcoming December 29 re-release of the Reebok Question Mid black/gold. (The sneaker, which falls under Reebok’s Classics umbrella, goes on sale December 29 at major retailers and select boutiques. It will cost $125.)

You might remember this colorway of the Question from its original release in 2006. You might remember that, on the 10th anniversary of the original Question, Allen Iverson asked Reebok to craft a sneaker that he could wear out after games. You might remember that his request, so simple in nature, resulted in the birth of the black/gold Question. Iverson, who has a knack for details (ask him about a random college or NBA game he played in; chances are, he can tell you who was guarding him and which team won the game), certainly remembers all of that.

In honor of this previously hard-to-find sneaker, and in honor of the night-out, show-out nature of the colorway, Reebok recently decided not only to re-release the black/gold on the 29th, but to shoot beauty shots where the shoe is paired with champagne and glass flutes. After all, the Reebok Mid black/gold is about going out after-hours, is about enjoying, is about celebrating.

With that in mind, back in a busy photo studio in sunny Atlanta, Iverson and I sat down to discuss five things, moments and happenings in his life that are truly worth celebrating:

1. His children…are something he celebrates:

“Having kids is everything and more than I thought it would be. There ain’t a better feeling than that; there ain’t a better feeling. It’s like, I think about what happened in [Newtown], Connecticut. When that tragedy just happened, you could feel how much you love your own kids, because of how much you hurt for those kids’ parents—for each and every one of them. It’s a different feeling, and it’s a different hurt. Yeah, everybody says, ‘Man, that’s sad, that’s tragic,’ and it was. It really hurt and cut deep. It let you know that life is so much bigger than everything else that goes on in the world. Just having kids, having your own kid, and being able to love them and provide for them—it’s just a different feeling. It’s a feeling that you can’t describe because it feels so good and feels so natural and surreal.”

2. Being drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers (1996)…is something he celebrates:

“As for basketball, getting drafted is always going to my favorite moment. That was better than anything I even accomplished in the League—MVP, All-Star, anything. Just to be able to hear David Stern call your name…”

3. Winning his first Playoff series (1998-99)…is something he celebrates:

“We played Orlando. I remember that was the loudest environment I had ever been in in my life. I remember we won Game 1 and lost Game 2, when we got home I said, ‘We are not going back there; we’ve got to win both of these.’ I remember the floor trembling. I remember trying to talk to my teammates when we were face to face, and we couldn’t hear each other. It was just incredible.”

4. Playing in his first All-Star game (1999-2000)…is something he celebrates:

“My first All-Star game is probably next. That was one of the greatest moments in my career. You always want to be a part of that growing up.”

5. Enrolling at Georgetown (1994)…is something he celebrates:

“Georgetown accepting me is another one. My [admission was granted] so fast: I took my SAT, and a couple days later I got a call from him (Coach John Thompson) saying, ‘Bring your behind to school (laughs).’”